Caribbean Secondment Unit

In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the number of asylum seekers reaching the Caribbean, including a 52 percent annual increase in 2014, as compared to 2013. In many countries, though, national governments do not have resources to conduct refugee protection activities, and rely on support from the U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR and NGO partners.

Through a partnership with UNHCR, our staff in U.S. offices are sent on short-term assignments to interview refugees in countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas. They prepare refugee referrals to resettlement countries, namely the United States. This partnership between CWS and UNHCR to conduct resettlement support missions in the Caribbean allows timely access to resettlement by refugees who cannot return to their home countries nor integrate locally in their countries of first asylum.